The Rote in the Rural Swedish-American Parish

T H E R O T E IN T H E R U R AL
S W E D I S H - A M E R I C A N PARISH
EMEROY JOHNSON
In writing about the r o t e and its significance in some of the
rural congregations in the United States I am thinking back to the
days of my childhood and youth. As a member of the Chisago
Lake Lutheran Church, Center City, Minnesota, I often heard
my parents talk about R o t e 8 in which we lived. I guess I never
wondered why we were in that r o t e , or why there was such a
thing as a r o t e . It just seemed natural that it was so, a part of my
life to be taken for granted, just as we accepted the hills and trees
and brooks and lakes.
R o t e 8 had a deacon, and I sensed that that had something to
do with the church. The first deacon I remember was a farmer by
the name of John A. Lindo. H e was a highly respected man in the
neighborhood, according to my childhood recollections of him.
The Chisago Lake church records show that he served as deacon
from 1904 until his death in 1909 at the age of 65.
Now after three quarters of a century it has come to my mind
that the r o t e had more significance than I had realized. I have
read dozens of histories of congregations, but the r o t e is seldom
mentioned. So when a friend of mine suggested that I put down
in writing something from my memory of the r o t e , it led me to
some reading and research to bolster and correct my memory of
things past, and to broaden the scope of this paper on the subject.
The Swedes who came to America in the seventeenth century
e s t a b l i s h e d colonies in Delaware, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania. In due time other parts of the land attracted
immigrants from Sweden. They came to every state in the Union
to find opportunities for establishing homes and earning a living.
In many of the states they have been a tiny minority, scattered
among people of other national origins. Seventeen states each
had less than 500 Swedes in 1890. Thirteen had more than
10,000. In some states they formed colonies and communities
that were almost 100 per cent Swedish. Minnesota became the
champion in the game—or business—of attracting Swedes in the
latter part of the nineteenth century. Minnesota was organized as
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a territory i n 1849. The U.S. Census of 1850 recorded four
Swedes in Minnesota. Forty years later the census enumerators
found there 99,913 persons who were born in Sweden.
The first three Swedish Lutheran congregations in Minnesota
were organized in 1854: First Lutheran, St. Paul; Chisago Lake
Church, Center C i t y ; and the one now known as E l im Lutheran,
Scandia. Vasa Lutheran and First Lutheran, Red Wing were
begun in 1855; First Lutheran, St. Peter, and the Cannon River
church in 1857; East and West Union, Carver, in 1858, and also
Scandian Grove, St. Peter; Spring Garden, Cannon Falls; Vista,
New Richland; and Trinity, Watertown. In the first half of the
1860s only two new congregations were founded, First
Lutheran, Taylors Falls (1860), and Cambridge Lutheran (1864).
Some small parishes in Kandiyohi county, begun in 1859, were
dispersed when the Indians went on the warpath in 1862.
Soon after the C i v i l War a steady stream of Swedish
immigrants arrived as roads and railroads were being built and
the land was being advertised. By 1875 there were 79 Swedish
Lutheran congregations in Minnesota, and by 1900 the total
reached 247.
These Swedes had never organized any congregations in
Sweden. The church was already there long before they were
born. Only a few of the immigrants had held any position of
responsibility in the Church of Sweden. Now in America, in
their new community, there would be no church unless they
themselves took steps to organize one. And this they did where
possible. Usually under the guidance of some Swedish pastor
who came to visit the settlement, the people adopted a proposed
constitution, governing such matters as the requirements for
membership, the calling of a pastor, and the election of trustees
and deacons.
Thus they learned how to form their own church rules and
regulations to govern matters in a free country where there was
not and could not be any state church. The fundamental doctrine
of the Lutheran church was taken over from the Church of
Sweden by formal decision. A n d there was one feature of church
life in Sweden which came to be used in many places in this
country, seemingly by instinct, without being mentioned in any
constitution or any other formal vote by the congregation. That
was the division of the congregation into districts, in Swedish the
r o t e (plural, r o t a r ) .
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The concept of the r o t e goes a long way back in Swedish
history. The etymology of the word is interesting. The word is
derived originally from the Latin word r u p t u s , the past participle
of r u m p e r e , meaning t o b r e a k , hence, literally a broken or beaten
way. The English word "route" has the same derivation, but has
not the same meaning as the Swedish r o t e . In Sweden r o t e came
to have a military use. The r o t e was an order for troops to march
from one place to another, especially that part of the order which
indicated the location of headquarters for each evening along the
way of the march. It was also used as a designation of a specific
group of men forming a unit of an army. In some country regions
the word was also used to refer to the division of the men into
groups to serve by turn as firefighters when it was necessary.
The word r o t e became a part of the ecclesiastical language as a
designation of a certain number of families in a neighborhood,
belonging to a specific parish. The husförhör (household
catechetical examination) was to be held in each r o t e in the
parish at stated times. On those occasions not only each family,
but each individual i n the r o t e would be accounted for and
information recorded. Thus the r o t e was the point at which the
church touched every person individually.
The word r o t e and the concept it had in the minds of the
Swedish immigrants made it seem obvious to them that a
congregation in America should also have its r o t a r . The Chisago
Lake congregation at Center City, Minnesota, is a typical
example. In the P r o t o k o l l , or minutes, of the congregation the
word r o t e occurs for the first time on September 12, 1858, when a
special congregational meeting was held at a time when the
congregation was without its own pastor. A layman, Carl P.
Bolin, served as chairman. The meeting had been called to
consider the question of giving financial support to a Lutheran
institution in Springfield, Illinois, where the Reverend Lars P.
Esbjörn was professor in the Scandinavian Department, training
pastors for the Swedish and Norwegian congregations. Each
congregation was asked to contribute $25.00. The Chisago Lake
people voted that each deacon " i n o m v a r s i n r o t e " (in his own
district) should solicit money for the intended purpose.
There had been no decision at any previous congregational
meeting to designate a division into r o t a r . In the election of
deacons nothing was said, or at least nothing written in the
minutes, about a r o t e for each one. Whether there had been
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The C h u r c h C o u n c i l , C e n t e r C i t y , 1 9 04
informal discussion and decision by consensus we do not know.
Evidently it just seemed obvious and natural that the various
neighborhoods were to be called r o t a r .
In the constitution the duties of the deacons were mainly to
help the pastor exercise church discipline. However, the first
specific duty assigned was to gather money for the school in
Springfield, Illinois, where young men were being trained to
serve as pastors.
A few months later the r o t e figured in other plans of the
congregation. On January 6, 1859, the minutes report that the
chairman, Carl Bolin, brought up the question of choosing
representatives to search out the best location for the new
cemetery on the land which belonged to the congregation. And it
was resolved that one in each r o t e should be elected, as follows:
In Collin's r o t e , Peter Gustaf Gustafson; in Hokanson's r o t e,
John Hokanson; in Bolin's r o t e , Håkan Swedberg; in Nolin's
r o t e , Daniel Peterson; in Helin's r o t e , Andreas Ågren. From
what is known as to the location of these representatives, it
appears that they were numbered clockwise, beginning farthest
northeast.
What criteria were used as a basis for the number and the size
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of the r o t e is not explained in the minutes of the congregation.
One might surmise that it may have been based on the number of
members and the convenience of the neighborhood. Probably a
r o t e should not be so large that all its members might not be
within reasonable walking distance.
The church membership register which was begun in 1868
lists members by the r o t e they belonged to. R o t e 1 had 47
families; R o t e 2, 42 families; R o t e 3, 43 families; R o t e 4, 24
families; R o t e 5, 18 families; R o t e 6, 24 families. Besides the
families, there were some individual persons listed in each r o t e .
A few years later a new listing of the members shows the
following: R o t e 1, 62 families; R o t e 2, 54 families; R o t e 3, 66
families; R o t e 4, 43 families; R o t e 5, 30 families; R o t e 6, 56
families. This was a time of rapid growth in the membership of
the Chisago Lake congregation, at the time when the "hunger
years" drove thousands of people from Sweden to America.
The Church of Sweden's stipulations regarding husförhör
were seldom put into effect in the Swedish Lutheran
congregations in America. It is possible that these immigrants
remembered those examinations as being embarrassing and
painful when the pastor probed too deeply into their lives. But
the matter of religious training for the children was on their
minds, and one of the most important responsibilities of the
church council (the deacons and the pastor) was to see to the
C h r i s t i a n education of the young. In the Chisago Lake
congregation and in many others it was expected that a month or
two of church school should be held in each r o t e , except when it
would be convenient and practical for two r o t a r to have school
together. Since the entire community for miles around was
almost entirely Swedish there was no problem in arranging with
the public school boards for permission to use the district school
for the church school in summer. It was the duty of each deacon
to see that necessary arrangements were made in his r o t e.
However, the election of teachers and their assignment was in
the hands of the entire council. If the deacon took his duty
seriously he would pay at least one visit to the school while it
was in session, or be present on the closing day of school to say a
few words of thanks to the teacher and to wish the pupils well.
And then there was usually lemonade and cookies, or some other
freshments.
When deacons were elected at the annual meeting of the
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congregation it was always arranged that each r o t e should have
one deacon. They were not elected by the voting members in
each r o t e as their representative, but rather by all the voters
present at the meeting, to serve in their respective r o t a r as the
congregation's representatives there.
As the congregation continued to grow in numbers and in
extent, it was divided into eight r o t a r , but the one that was
Number 3 became so large that it was divided into R o t e 3, Center
City, and R o t e 3, Shafer.
A congregation such as Chisago Lake might be compared to a
strawberry plant. When a runner gets a certain distance from the
"mother," it takes root and a new plant begins to form. In 1874
the farthest-away parts of R o t e 6 and R o t e 7 formed a new plant,
which became the Zion Lutheran Church of Chisago City. In a
similar way the most distant part of R o t e 1, in the northeast,
became the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Almelund in 1877.
Now, a hundred years later, Z i on has 900 members, Immanuel
has 600, while the mother "plant" has 1,200.
R o t e 7 consisted largely of members living in or near the
growing village of Lindstrom, which was less than two miles
west of Center City. The mother plant was not happy to think of a
new plant so close by. But there were people who were not
satisfied to go to church in Center City, for various reasons. The
matter of language was one. Children were growing up who had
little familiarity w i th Swedish. Another Lutheran church body
began to hold services in English and soon organized Trinity
Lutheran Church. Some Center City people considered it a
weed in the garden, but gradually better relations and feelings
prevailed.
Shafer is a small village a few miles east of Center City. It
formed a r o t e (no. 3, Shafer). Sunday school was held there, and
occasional services, in the village hall. Some funds were
collected for a chapel. Around the year 1920 there were those
who expected some other church body might come and establish
a congregation. So the Chisago Lake pastor wisely suggested that
the congregation should b u i l d a chapel in Shafer. The
congregation agreed, but no date was set for construction to
begin. It was just at the time when automobiles became common
and the trip to Center City was no longer a serious problem.
Each r o t e had its own " L a d i e s ' A i d - S o c i e t y " serving as
auxiliary of the congregation. Monthly meetings were held at the
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homes of members. Whenever possible the pastor attended these
meetings to conduct Bible study or some form of devotional
service. With nine such meetings each month, two or three each
week, the pastor's afternoons were well occupied. On those rare
occasions when neither he nor any substitute could be present, it
was taken for granted that the deacon's wife should lead
devotions.
The M i n n e s s k r i f t published in 1904 on the occasion of the
fiftieth anniversary contains pictures of the ladies in each r o t e.
Not all the ladies were present for the picture-taking. R o t e 1 has
30; R o t e 2 has 18; R o t e 3, Center City, has 31; R o t e 3, Shafer, has
17; R o t e 4 has 21; R o t e 5 has 14; R o t e 6 and R o t e 7 together have
13; R o t e 8 has 14.
In the first constitution, adopted at the organization meeting
on May 12, 1854, the duties of the deacons were spelled out. The
greatest emphasis was on the matter of church discipline. In
Sweden church discipline could be enforced by the sheriff and
other officers of the law. In America the pastor and the deacons,
who together constituted the Kyrkoråd (church council) were
responsible for discipline. Paragraph 4 in the constitution begins
with these words:
Should it happen that the grievous circumstances arise,
that any of the members of the congregation fall into a sinful
and ungodly life, such as drunkenness, profanity,
quarrelsomeness, malicious gossip, or other . . . To
administer admonition truly is one of the rights of every
The L a d i e s A i d , C e n t e r C i t y , R o t e 8. E m e r o y J o h n s o n ' s m o t h e r is l i s t e d as
J o h n s o n
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Christian but it is and remains a special duty for the pastor
and the deacons to warn and admonish the evil-doer in love
and seriousness. . . .
During the first thirty or forty years there were several difficult
cases of d i s c i p l i n e but the council was reluctant to
excommunicate anyone. Sometimes it devolved upon the deacon
in his r o t e to go to a neighbor and admonish him to stop
quarreling with his wife, or the woman to stop her slanderous
gossip. There was a case involving one woman who talked too
much about the pastor and his wife.
With all due respect for the genuine piety and godliness of the
deacons, one gets the impression now and then that certain
admonitions and d i s c i p l i n a r y actions had a flavor of
self-importance and officious meddling.
Actually the most common duty given to the deacons was to
collect the church dues from members who were in arrears and
had become negligent regarding their obligations. Dr. F. M .
Eckman, pastor of the congregation when it celebrated its fiftieth
anniversary in 1904, commented on this:
The practice, still prevailing, of having the Church
Council collect the unpaid membership dues has at times
seemed inappropriate. But viewed more closely it is seen
that the neglect of support for the congregation ought to be a
matter of serious spiritual concern on the part of the Council.
The r o t a r in Chisago Lake were numbered, not named as in
some congregations. However, there were several parts of the
community which were often referred to by name. The villages,
Center City, Lindstrom, Shafer, Chisago City, were, of course,
named. The pronunciation was often Swedish: "Centa C i t y ,"
"Lindström's," "Cisago C i t y , " "Sjäfert." The rural
neighborhoods had such names as " L i l l e s j o n ,"
"Smålandsvägen," " V i b o , " " F u r u b y , " "Lunnamossen." These
names were useful in designating persons who had the same
name, such as Peter Swenson i Vibo, Peter Swenson v id
Lillesjon, and Peter Swenson i Center City. And there was
Carlson i Hackagården and Carlson i Klovet, Pehrson på
Lerbacken, Ernst i Furuby, etc.
The r o t e system in Chisago Lake prevailed for more than a
century. When English became the language of the congregation
in the 1920s, r o t e was translated as d i s t r i c t . The numbering and
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functioning of the districts was continued until in the 1960s,
when the designations, numbers, and purposes were changed.
Instead of the nine districts, the congregation was divided into
six areas. Church council members are no longer elected from
any particular area, but at large. The Ladies' A i d Society has
become Lutheran Church Women and is divided into smaller
groups called circles, which meet each month.
In spite of such changes one can sense that the idea of the r o t e
has not been banished. There are ways and means whereby the
church touches the life of each individual.
Chisago Lake was not unique among congregations in the
matter of establishing r o t a r . A similar arrangement was found in
various places, one of them being Vasa, Minnesota.
Eric Norelius was for many years a prominent figure among
Swedish Lutherans, especially in Minnesota. He had come to the
United States in 1850 at the age of seventeen. He studied at a
Lutheran institution, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, in
1851-53 and 1854-55. He came to Goodhue County, Minnesota,
in September 1855 and organized two congregations, Vasa on
September 3, and First Lutheran, Red Wing, on September 4. He
settled there in Goodhue County in 1856 and became pastor of
the Swedish congregations there.
Vasa was a wholly rural parish and there the r o t e system came
into being in much the same manner as at Chisago Lake, without
any formal resolution by the congregation. When the
congregation was organized, it consisted of twenty families and a
few unmarried persons. Twenty years later there were 1,273
members. D u r i n g those two decades the northern half of
Goodhue County had become an almost entirely Swedish
region. Besides Vasa and Red Wing, new congregations had
been organized at Cannon River, W e l c h , Spring Garden,
Goodhue, and Cannon Falls. The Vasa congregation was the
strongest in number of members. The new settlers had taken up
the land for miles around. In 1869 they had made bricks and built
a fine church, which is still there and in use.
Norelius was pastor of the congregation at the time of the
fiftieth anniversary in 1905. He prepared and published a history
entitled V a s a I l l u s t r a t a . In this book he told of the r o t a r :
The various r o t a r of the congregation have received
names w h i c h have come into general use in d a i ly
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conversation. The K y r k r o t e includes the vicinity near the
church, together with the village Jämtland on the southwest.
The northern part of Vasa township, east of the brook, is
called Småland. The northeastern and eastern part the
community has the name Skåne. East and north of there,
extending into Featherstone, is the Spring Creek r o t e , with
reference to a little stream by that name. South of Skåne and
extending into Featherstone is the Göta r o t e . In the southern
part of Vasa township, and on into Belle Creek, is the White
Rock r o t e , referring to a sandstone cliff in the area. West of
the creek is Västerbotten, and on the same side on the
northwest is Norrbotten. These last two r o t a r extend in
toward Cannon Falls. These names are used with full
acceptance. One seldom mentions that this or that person
lives in section so and so. One says that he lives in Småland,
Skåne, Göta, etc.
The writer of this article can testify that this was true a couple
of decades later. In the summer of 1924 I taught the church
school at Vasa, three hours in the forenoon in the K y r k r o t e and
three hours in the afternoon in Småland. The school term in both
places was six weeks.
The language transition was quite slow and gradual at Vasa,
and the old names of the r o t a r have not yet been entirely
obliterated.
At the same time as the settlers came to Goodhue County there
were many Swedes who went farther west, up the valley of the
Minnesota River to Carver and Nicollet Counties.
The settlement in Carver County was at first called Oscar, but
when a congregation was organized in the early summer of 1858
it was decided to call it Union. A log building had already been
built which was used for religious services. The people who
lived in the western part of the settlement had some eight miles
or more to the church, so they organized a congregation the same
summer and called it West Union. The original congregation
then became East Union. In this case the "runner" from the
original "strawberry plant" had taken root sooner than expected.
It is still alive and active.
Very seldom is there reference to r o t a r in the minutes of the
East Union congregational meetings. One is found in the
minutes of the church council in 1876 and also in the
congregational meeting that year. It was reported that the
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M a p o f t o w n s h i p s in v i c i n i t y o f V a s a , G o o d h u e C o u n t y , M i n n e s o t a
members l i v i n g in the village of Carver, some three or four miles
from the church, asked to be designated as a r o t e , to have one
deacon and one trustee from the area, and to build a church in
the village. The requests were granted and a church was built
the same year. In 1891 this r o t e became an organized
congregation, named the Salem Lutheran Church. It was another
example of a "runner" taking root.
The East U n i o n c o u n c i l in 1883 had a r e v i ew of the
membership rolls of the congregation, and the minutes of the
meeting contain a list of 27 members who were dropped. They
are listed by the r o t e in which they lived. This illustrates one of
the functions of the church council, to act on the admittance and
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the dismissal of members. This was the practice in all the
Swedish Lutheran congregations.
The Scandian Grove congregation, organized in 1858 in
N i c o l l e t County, some ten miles northwest of St. Peter,
e v e n t u a l l y became d i v i d e d into three r o t a r , known as
K y r k r o t e n , Västra R o t e n , and Östra R o t e n . Principally, the
division into r o t a r was to facilitate the operation of the summer
church schools. The congregation built a plain little building in
the western r o t e , some six miles from the church. For many years
school was held there, also in the church, and in a public school
building east of the church.
The women's society also was divided into three groups. It
seems that at times there was rivalry among them in their work
for the Lord. This was mentioned by a writer who published a
special edition of the S t . P e t e r H e r a l d honoring Scandian Grove
at its 75th anniversary in 1933:
Until recent years—perhaps the last four or five—the
ladies of the A i d Society were divided into three groups,
designated according to the location as the east or Lake
Prairie route, the church or Norseland route, and the west or
New Sweden route. These units met separately during the
year and united in one big meeting at the close to discuss
and plan work for the future. During the last few years,
however, the route system has been abolished and the ladies
from all corners of the congregation get together for their
regular meetings. . . . indeed there is some rivalry among
them in the activities of various groups, but it is wholesome
rivalry and adds to the incentive to do the best for one of the
most thriving rural communities in the state.
When the Augustana Lutheran Synod was organized in 1860 it
consisted of 35 Swedish and 13 Norwegian congregations. This
cooperation by Swedes and Norwegians continued through the
1860s, after which the Norwegian congregations withdrew and
formed their own church groups. Before the separation in 1870,
some Norwegian congregations belonged to the Minnesota
Conference.
One of these was the Christiania congregation, organized in
1860 near present-day Lakeville, in Dakota County. The r o te
system has prevailed in this congregation also. The present
(1981) pastor, A. G. Dyste, has drawn a map showing the various
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r o t a r and their interesting names. Here we find Eidsvold,
Peiserbygde, Haalingdal, and Trampedalen.
Christiania was the name of the capital city of Norway until it
was changed to Oslo in 1924. Haalingdal is said to have been
named after the first settler there. Eidsvold is a city in Norway.
Trampedalen was so named because of the dances held there,
and Peiserbygde (or Peiserdomme) is l i t e r a l l y fighting
community, according to Pastor Dyste.
That the r o t e system was not only a Minnesota phenomenon is
seen in the early history of Andover, Illinois. The congregation
was organized in 1850 by the pioneer Swedish Lutheran pastor,
Lars P. Esbjörn. In the minutes of a congregational meeting on
March 24, 1856, there was a decision made that unpaid pledges
for the church should be collected by the deacons " i n o m v a r s in
r o t e " (each in his own district). They were instructed to visit
"the forgetful ones and give them an earnest reminder that they
should contribute to the church." At Andover, as at many other
places the r o t e was the place where the church came into touch
with each individual member, to teach, sometimes to admonish
and to discipline, and also to comfort and aid. In the early years
of the history of the Swedish Lutheran congregations the
constitutions and resolutions dealt mainly with discipline,
collecting funds for the congregation and for benevolences.
Later developments in church polity specified that the deacon
should visit the sick and the poor and see to it that necessary
steps were taken to aid and comfort the needy " i n o m v a r s in
r o t e . "
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, is the largest
Lutheran congregation in the United States. Organized by a
small group in 1920, it had reached the 5,000-member mark in
1950, was up to 10,000 in 1970, and to 11,000 in 1980. At various
times the question has been asked, How can such a large
congregation keep in touch with members individually?
A series of articles on Mount Olivet, written by Steve Berg and
published in the M i n n e a p o l i s T r i b u n e in A p r i l , 1981, raised this
question, and indicated that Mount Olivet has been seeking to
solve the problem. In the installment published April 13, Berg
writes:
Mount Olivet's most challenging effort to make itself more
intimate began in 1976. The church calls it 'lay
shepherding.' It d i v i d e d the metropolitan area into 43
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S o l o m o n J o h n s o n ( E m e r o y ' s f a t h e r ) , A r t h u r B r o b e r g (farmer) and Pastor C a r l S
R e n i u s s o l i c i t i n g f o r M i n n e s o t a C o l l e g e , 1 9 2 0.
districts, then further divided those into neighborhoods,
each containing ten or twelve Mount Olivet families. It
appointed lay shepherds for each of these neighborhoods.
The idea was to provide a personal touch and to encourage
members to lean on each other in times of need.
Mount O l i v e t has six pastors. The Reverend Laurel V.
Lindberg, who is in charge of the neighborhood ministry, is
quoted as saying: "Not all people buy this kind of contact. . . .
That's fine. We don't want to snoop, but the gospel tells us to
reach out with love and we just want to let them know we care."
Neighborhood ministry, district, lay shepherding—it would
seem that Mount Olivet has found the modern urban equivalent
of a system that closely resembles the Swedish r o t e with its
deacon whose job it was to bring the church into closer touch
with the individual.
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T H E R O T E IN T H E R U R AL
S W E D I S H - A M E R I C A N PARISH
EMEROY JOHNSON
In writing about the r o t e and its significance in some of the
rural congregations in the United States I am thinking back to the
days of my childhood and youth. As a member of the Chisago
Lake Lutheran Church, Center City, Minnesota, I often heard
my parents talk about R o t e 8 in which we lived. I guess I never
wondered why we were in that r o t e , or why there was such a
thing as a r o t e . It just seemed natural that it was so, a part of my
life to be taken for granted, just as we accepted the hills and trees
and brooks and lakes.
R o t e 8 had a deacon, and I sensed that that had something to
do with the church. The first deacon I remember was a farmer by
the name of John A. Lindo. H e was a highly respected man in the
neighborhood, according to my childhood recollections of him.
The Chisago Lake church records show that he served as deacon
from 1904 until his death in 1909 at the age of 65.
Now after three quarters of a century it has come to my mind
that the r o t e had more significance than I had realized. I have
read dozens of histories of congregations, but the r o t e is seldom
mentioned. So when a friend of mine suggested that I put down
in writing something from my memory of the r o t e , it led me to
some reading and research to bolster and correct my memory of
things past, and to broaden the scope of this paper on the subject.
The Swedes who came to America in the seventeenth century
e s t a b l i s h e d colonies in Delaware, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania. In due time other parts of the land attracted
immigrants from Sweden. They came to every state in the Union
to find opportunities for establishing homes and earning a living.
In many of the states they have been a tiny minority, scattered
among people of other national origins. Seventeen states each
had less than 500 Swedes in 1890. Thirteen had more than
10,000. In some states they formed colonies and communities
that were almost 100 per cent Swedish. Minnesota became the
champion in the game—or business—of attracting Swedes in the
latter part of the nineteenth century. Minnesota was organized as
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a territory i n 1849. The U.S. Census of 1850 recorded four
Swedes in Minnesota. Forty years later the census enumerators
found there 99,913 persons who were born in Sweden.
The first three Swedish Lutheran congregations in Minnesota
were organized in 1854: First Lutheran, St. Paul; Chisago Lake
Church, Center C i t y ; and the one now known as E l im Lutheran,
Scandia. Vasa Lutheran and First Lutheran, Red Wing were
begun in 1855; First Lutheran, St. Peter, and the Cannon River
church in 1857; East and West Union, Carver, in 1858, and also
Scandian Grove, St. Peter; Spring Garden, Cannon Falls; Vista,
New Richland; and Trinity, Watertown. In the first half of the
1860s only two new congregations were founded, First
Lutheran, Taylors Falls (1860), and Cambridge Lutheran (1864).
Some small parishes in Kandiyohi county, begun in 1859, were
dispersed when the Indians went on the warpath in 1862.
Soon after the C i v i l War a steady stream of Swedish
immigrants arrived as roads and railroads were being built and
the land was being advertised. By 1875 there were 79 Swedish
Lutheran congregations in Minnesota, and by 1900 the total
reached 247.
These Swedes had never organized any congregations in
Sweden. The church was already there long before they were
born. Only a few of the immigrants had held any position of
responsibility in the Church of Sweden. Now in America, in
their new community, there would be no church unless they
themselves took steps to organize one. And this they did where
possible. Usually under the guidance of some Swedish pastor
who came to visit the settlement, the people adopted a proposed
constitution, governing such matters as the requirements for
membership, the calling of a pastor, and the election of trustees
and deacons.
Thus they learned how to form their own church rules and
regulations to govern matters in a free country where there was
not and could not be any state church. The fundamental doctrine
of the Lutheran church was taken over from the Church of
Sweden by formal decision. A n d there was one feature of church
life in Sweden which came to be used in many places in this
country, seemingly by instinct, without being mentioned in any
constitution or any other formal vote by the congregation. That
was the division of the congregation into districts, in Swedish the
r o t e (plural, r o t a r ) .
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The concept of the r o t e goes a long way back in Swedish
history. The etymology of the word is interesting. The word is
derived originally from the Latin word r u p t u s , the past participle
of r u m p e r e , meaning t o b r e a k , hence, literally a broken or beaten
way. The English word "route" has the same derivation, but has
not the same meaning as the Swedish r o t e . In Sweden r o t e came
to have a military use. The r o t e was an order for troops to march
from one place to another, especially that part of the order which
indicated the location of headquarters for each evening along the
way of the march. It was also used as a designation of a specific
group of men forming a unit of an army. In some country regions
the word was also used to refer to the division of the men into
groups to serve by turn as firefighters when it was necessary.
The word r o t e became a part of the ecclesiastical language as a
designation of a certain number of families in a neighborhood,
belonging to a specific parish. The husförhör (household
catechetical examination) was to be held in each r o t e in the
parish at stated times. On those occasions not only each family,
but each individual i n the r o t e would be accounted for and
information recorded. Thus the r o t e was the point at which the
church touched every person individually.
The word r o t e and the concept it had in the minds of the
Swedish immigrants made it seem obvious to them that a
congregation in America should also have its r o t a r . The Chisago
Lake congregation at Center City, Minnesota, is a typical
example. In the P r o t o k o l l , or minutes, of the congregation the
word r o t e occurs for the first time on September 12, 1858, when a
special congregational meeting was held at a time when the
congregation was without its own pastor. A layman, Carl P.
Bolin, served as chairman. The meeting had been called to
consider the question of giving financial support to a Lutheran
institution in Springfield, Illinois, where the Reverend Lars P.
Esbjörn was professor in the Scandinavian Department, training
pastors for the Swedish and Norwegian congregations. Each
congregation was asked to contribute $25.00. The Chisago Lake
people voted that each deacon " i n o m v a r s i n r o t e " (in his own
district) should solicit money for the intended purpose.
There had been no decision at any previous congregational
meeting to designate a division into r o t a r . In the election of
deacons nothing was said, or at least nothing written in the
minutes, about a r o t e for each one. Whether there had been
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The C h u r c h C o u n c i l , C e n t e r C i t y , 1 9 04
informal discussion and decision by consensus we do not know.
Evidently it just seemed obvious and natural that the various
neighborhoods were to be called r o t a r .
In the constitution the duties of the deacons were mainly to
help the pastor exercise church discipline. However, the first
specific duty assigned was to gather money for the school in
Springfield, Illinois, where young men were being trained to
serve as pastors.
A few months later the r o t e figured in other plans of the
congregation. On January 6, 1859, the minutes report that the
chairman, Carl Bolin, brought up the question of choosing
representatives to search out the best location for the new
cemetery on the land which belonged to the congregation. And it
was resolved that one in each r o t e should be elected, as follows:
In Collin's r o t e , Peter Gustaf Gustafson; in Hokanson's r o t e,
John Hokanson; in Bolin's r o t e , Håkan Swedberg; in Nolin's
r o t e , Daniel Peterson; in Helin's r o t e , Andreas Ågren. From
what is known as to the location of these representatives, it
appears that they were numbered clockwise, beginning farthest
northeast.
What criteria were used as a basis for the number and the size
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of the r o t e is not explained in the minutes of the congregation.
One might surmise that it may have been based on the number of
members and the convenience of the neighborhood. Probably a
r o t e should not be so large that all its members might not be
within reasonable walking distance.
The church membership register which was begun in 1868
lists members by the r o t e they belonged to. R o t e 1 had 47
families; R o t e 2, 42 families; R o t e 3, 43 families; R o t e 4, 24
families; R o t e 5, 18 families; R o t e 6, 24 families. Besides the
families, there were some individual persons listed in each r o t e .
A few years later a new listing of the members shows the
following: R o t e 1, 62 families; R o t e 2, 54 families; R o t e 3, 66
families; R o t e 4, 43 families; R o t e 5, 30 families; R o t e 6, 56
families. This was a time of rapid growth in the membership of
the Chisago Lake congregation, at the time when the "hunger
years" drove thousands of people from Sweden to America.
The Church of Sweden's stipulations regarding husförhör
were seldom put into effect in the Swedish Lutheran
congregations in America. It is possible that these immigrants
remembered those examinations as being embarrassing and
painful when the pastor probed too deeply into their lives. But
the matter of religious training for the children was on their
minds, and one of the most important responsibilities of the
church council (the deacons and the pastor) was to see to the
C h r i s t i a n education of the young. In the Chisago Lake
congregation and in many others it was expected that a month or
two of church school should be held in each r o t e , except when it
would be convenient and practical for two r o t a r to have school
together. Since the entire community for miles around was
almost entirely Swedish there was no problem in arranging with
the public school boards for permission to use the district school
for the church school in summer. It was the duty of each deacon
to see that necessary arrangements were made in his r o t e.
However, the election of teachers and their assignment was in
the hands of the entire council. If the deacon took his duty
seriously he would pay at least one visit to the school while it
was in session, or be present on the closing day of school to say a
few words of thanks to the teacher and to wish the pupils well.
And then there was usually lemonade and cookies, or some other
freshments.
When deacons were elected at the annual meeting of the
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congregation it was always arranged that each r o t e should have
one deacon. They were not elected by the voting members in
each r o t e as their representative, but rather by all the voters
present at the meeting, to serve in their respective r o t a r as the
congregation's representatives there.
As the congregation continued to grow in numbers and in
extent, it was divided into eight r o t a r , but the one that was
Number 3 became so large that it was divided into R o t e 3, Center
City, and R o t e 3, Shafer.
A congregation such as Chisago Lake might be compared to a
strawberry plant. When a runner gets a certain distance from the
"mother," it takes root and a new plant begins to form. In 1874
the farthest-away parts of R o t e 6 and R o t e 7 formed a new plant,
which became the Zion Lutheran Church of Chisago City. In a
similar way the most distant part of R o t e 1, in the northeast,
became the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Almelund in 1877.
Now, a hundred years later, Z i on has 900 members, Immanuel
has 600, while the mother "plant" has 1,200.
R o t e 7 consisted largely of members living in or near the
growing village of Lindstrom, which was less than two miles
west of Center City. The mother plant was not happy to think of a
new plant so close by. But there were people who were not
satisfied to go to church in Center City, for various reasons. The
matter of language was one. Children were growing up who had
little familiarity w i th Swedish. Another Lutheran church body
began to hold services in English and soon organized Trinity
Lutheran Church. Some Center City people considered it a
weed in the garden, but gradually better relations and feelings
prevailed.
Shafer is a small village a few miles east of Center City. It
formed a r o t e (no. 3, Shafer). Sunday school was held there, and
occasional services, in the village hall. Some funds were
collected for a chapel. Around the year 1920 there were those
who expected some other church body might come and establish
a congregation. So the Chisago Lake pastor wisely suggested that
the congregation should b u i l d a chapel in Shafer. The
congregation agreed, but no date was set for construction to
begin. It was just at the time when automobiles became common
and the trip to Center City was no longer a serious problem.
Each r o t e had its own " L a d i e s ' A i d - S o c i e t y " serving as
auxiliary of the congregation. Monthly meetings were held at the
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homes of members. Whenever possible the pastor attended these
meetings to conduct Bible study or some form of devotional
service. With nine such meetings each month, two or three each
week, the pastor's afternoons were well occupied. On those rare
occasions when neither he nor any substitute could be present, it
was taken for granted that the deacon's wife should lead
devotions.
The M i n n e s s k r i f t published in 1904 on the occasion of the
fiftieth anniversary contains pictures of the ladies in each r o t e.
Not all the ladies were present for the picture-taking. R o t e 1 has
30; R o t e 2 has 18; R o t e 3, Center City, has 31; R o t e 3, Shafer, has
17; R o t e 4 has 21; R o t e 5 has 14; R o t e 6 and R o t e 7 together have
13; R o t e 8 has 14.
In the first constitution, adopted at the organization meeting
on May 12, 1854, the duties of the deacons were spelled out. The
greatest emphasis was on the matter of church discipline. In
Sweden church discipline could be enforced by the sheriff and
other officers of the law. In America the pastor and the deacons,
who together constituted the Kyrkoråd (church council) were
responsible for discipline. Paragraph 4 in the constitution begins
with these words:
Should it happen that the grievous circumstances arise,
that any of the members of the congregation fall into a sinful
and ungodly life, such as drunkenness, profanity,
quarrelsomeness, malicious gossip, or other . . . To
administer admonition truly is one of the rights of every
The L a d i e s A i d , C e n t e r C i t y , R o t e 8. E m e r o y J o h n s o n ' s m o t h e r is l i s t e d as
J o h n s o n
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Christian but it is and remains a special duty for the pastor
and the deacons to warn and admonish the evil-doer in love
and seriousness. . . .
During the first thirty or forty years there were several difficult
cases of d i s c i p l i n e but the council was reluctant to
excommunicate anyone. Sometimes it devolved upon the deacon
in his r o t e to go to a neighbor and admonish him to stop
quarreling with his wife, or the woman to stop her slanderous
gossip. There was a case involving one woman who talked too
much about the pastor and his wife.
With all due respect for the genuine piety and godliness of the
deacons, one gets the impression now and then that certain
admonitions and d i s c i p l i n a r y actions had a flavor of
self-importance and officious meddling.
Actually the most common duty given to the deacons was to
collect the church dues from members who were in arrears and
had become negligent regarding their obligations. Dr. F. M .
Eckman, pastor of the congregation when it celebrated its fiftieth
anniversary in 1904, commented on this:
The practice, still prevailing, of having the Church
Council collect the unpaid membership dues has at times
seemed inappropriate. But viewed more closely it is seen
that the neglect of support for the congregation ought to be a
matter of serious spiritual concern on the part of the Council.
The r o t a r in Chisago Lake were numbered, not named as in
some congregations. However, there were several parts of the
community which were often referred to by name. The villages,
Center City, Lindstrom, Shafer, Chisago City, were, of course,
named. The pronunciation was often Swedish: "Centa C i t y ,"
"Lindström's," "Cisago C i t y , " "Sjäfert." The rural
neighborhoods had such names as " L i l l e s j o n ,"
"Smålandsvägen," " V i b o , " " F u r u b y , " "Lunnamossen." These
names were useful in designating persons who had the same
name, such as Peter Swenson i Vibo, Peter Swenson v id
Lillesjon, and Peter Swenson i Center City. And there was
Carlson i Hackagården and Carlson i Klovet, Pehrson på
Lerbacken, Ernst i Furuby, etc.
The r o t e system in Chisago Lake prevailed for more than a
century. When English became the language of the congregation
in the 1920s, r o t e was translated as d i s t r i c t . The numbering and
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functioning of the districts was continued until in the 1960s,
when the designations, numbers, and purposes were changed.
Instead of the nine districts, the congregation was divided into
six areas. Church council members are no longer elected from
any particular area, but at large. The Ladies' A i d Society has
become Lutheran Church Women and is divided into smaller
groups called circles, which meet each month.
In spite of such changes one can sense that the idea of the r o t e
has not been banished. There are ways and means whereby the
church touches the life of each individual.
Chisago Lake was not unique among congregations in the
matter of establishing r o t a r . A similar arrangement was found in
various places, one of them being Vasa, Minnesota.
Eric Norelius was for many years a prominent figure among
Swedish Lutherans, especially in Minnesota. He had come to the
United States in 1850 at the age of seventeen. He studied at a
Lutheran institution, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, in
1851-53 and 1854-55. He came to Goodhue County, Minnesota,
in September 1855 and organized two congregations, Vasa on
September 3, and First Lutheran, Red Wing, on September 4. He
settled there in Goodhue County in 1856 and became pastor of
the Swedish congregations there.
Vasa was a wholly rural parish and there the r o t e system came
into being in much the same manner as at Chisago Lake, without
any formal resolution by the congregation. When the
congregation was organized, it consisted of twenty families and a
few unmarried persons. Twenty years later there were 1,273
members. D u r i n g those two decades the northern half of
Goodhue County had become an almost entirely Swedish
region. Besides Vasa and Red Wing, new congregations had
been organized at Cannon River, W e l c h , Spring Garden,
Goodhue, and Cannon Falls. The Vasa congregation was the
strongest in number of members. The new settlers had taken up
the land for miles around. In 1869 they had made bricks and built
a fine church, which is still there and in use.
Norelius was pastor of the congregation at the time of the
fiftieth anniversary in 1905. He prepared and published a history
entitled V a s a I l l u s t r a t a . In this book he told of the r o t a r :
The various r o t a r of the congregation have received
names w h i c h have come into general use in d a i ly
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conversation. The K y r k r o t e includes the vicinity near the
church, together with the village Jämtland on the southwest.
The northern part of Vasa township, east of the brook, is
called Småland. The northeastern and eastern part the
community has the name Skåne. East and north of there,
extending into Featherstone, is the Spring Creek r o t e , with
reference to a little stream by that name. South of Skåne and
extending into Featherstone is the Göta r o t e . In the southern
part of Vasa township, and on into Belle Creek, is the White
Rock r o t e , referring to a sandstone cliff in the area. West of
the creek is Västerbotten, and on the same side on the
northwest is Norrbotten. These last two r o t a r extend in
toward Cannon Falls. These names are used with full
acceptance. One seldom mentions that this or that person
lives in section so and so. One says that he lives in Småland,
Skåne, Göta, etc.
The writer of this article can testify that this was true a couple
of decades later. In the summer of 1924 I taught the church
school at Vasa, three hours in the forenoon in the K y r k r o t e and
three hours in the afternoon in Småland. The school term in both
places was six weeks.
The language transition was quite slow and gradual at Vasa,
and the old names of the r o t a r have not yet been entirely
obliterated.
At the same time as the settlers came to Goodhue County there
were many Swedes who went farther west, up the valley of the
Minnesota River to Carver and Nicollet Counties.
The settlement in Carver County was at first called Oscar, but
when a congregation was organized in the early summer of 1858
it was decided to call it Union. A log building had already been
built which was used for religious services. The people who
lived in the western part of the settlement had some eight miles
or more to the church, so they organized a congregation the same
summer and called it West Union. The original congregation
then became East Union. In this case the "runner" from the
original "strawberry plant" had taken root sooner than expected.
It is still alive and active.
Very seldom is there reference to r o t a r in the minutes of the
East Union congregational meetings. One is found in the
minutes of the church council in 1876 and also in the
congregational meeting that year. It was reported that the
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M a p o f t o w n s h i p s in v i c i n i t y o f V a s a , G o o d h u e C o u n t y , M i n n e s o t a
members l i v i n g in the village of Carver, some three or four miles
from the church, asked to be designated as a r o t e , to have one
deacon and one trustee from the area, and to build a church in
the village. The requests were granted and a church was built
the same year. In 1891 this r o t e became an organized
congregation, named the Salem Lutheran Church. It was another
example of a "runner" taking root.
The East U n i o n c o u n c i l in 1883 had a r e v i ew of the
membership rolls of the congregation, and the minutes of the
meeting contain a list of 27 members who were dropped. They
are listed by the r o t e in which they lived. This illustrates one of
the functions of the church council, to act on the admittance and
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the dismissal of members. This was the practice in all the
Swedish Lutheran congregations.
The Scandian Grove congregation, organized in 1858 in
N i c o l l e t County, some ten miles northwest of St. Peter,
e v e n t u a l l y became d i v i d e d into three r o t a r , known as
K y r k r o t e n , Västra R o t e n , and Östra R o t e n . Principally, the
division into r o t a r was to facilitate the operation of the summer
church schools. The congregation built a plain little building in
the western r o t e , some six miles from the church. For many years
school was held there, also in the church, and in a public school
building east of the church.
The women's society also was divided into three groups. It
seems that at times there was rivalry among them in their work
for the Lord. This was mentioned by a writer who published a
special edition of the S t . P e t e r H e r a l d honoring Scandian Grove
at its 75th anniversary in 1933:
Until recent years—perhaps the last four or five—the
ladies of the A i d Society were divided into three groups,
designated according to the location as the east or Lake
Prairie route, the church or Norseland route, and the west or
New Sweden route. These units met separately during the
year and united in one big meeting at the close to discuss
and plan work for the future. During the last few years,
however, the route system has been abolished and the ladies
from all corners of the congregation get together for their
regular meetings. . . . indeed there is some rivalry among
them in the activities of various groups, but it is wholesome
rivalry and adds to the incentive to do the best for one of the
most thriving rural communities in the state.
When the Augustana Lutheran Synod was organized in 1860 it
consisted of 35 Swedish and 13 Norwegian congregations. This
cooperation by Swedes and Norwegians continued through the
1860s, after which the Norwegian congregations withdrew and
formed their own church groups. Before the separation in 1870,
some Norwegian congregations belonged to the Minnesota
Conference.
One of these was the Christiania congregation, organized in
1860 near present-day Lakeville, in Dakota County. The r o te
system has prevailed in this congregation also. The present
(1981) pastor, A. G. Dyste, has drawn a map showing the various
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r o t a r and their interesting names. Here we find Eidsvold,
Peiserbygde, Haalingdal, and Trampedalen.
Christiania was the name of the capital city of Norway until it
was changed to Oslo in 1924. Haalingdal is said to have been
named after the first settler there. Eidsvold is a city in Norway.
Trampedalen was so named because of the dances held there,
and Peiserbygde (or Peiserdomme) is l i t e r a l l y fighting
community, according to Pastor Dyste.
That the r o t e system was not only a Minnesota phenomenon is
seen in the early history of Andover, Illinois. The congregation
was organized in 1850 by the pioneer Swedish Lutheran pastor,
Lars P. Esbjörn. In the minutes of a congregational meeting on
March 24, 1856, there was a decision made that unpaid pledges
for the church should be collected by the deacons " i n o m v a r s in
r o t e " (each in his own district). They were instructed to visit
"the forgetful ones and give them an earnest reminder that they
should contribute to the church." At Andover, as at many other
places the r o t e was the place where the church came into touch
with each individual member, to teach, sometimes to admonish
and to discipline, and also to comfort and aid. In the early years
of the history of the Swedish Lutheran congregations the
constitutions and resolutions dealt mainly with discipline,
collecting funds for the congregation and for benevolences.
Later developments in church polity specified that the deacon
should visit the sick and the poor and see to it that necessary
steps were taken to aid and comfort the needy " i n o m v a r s in
r o t e . "
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, is the largest
Lutheran congregation in the United States. Organized by a
small group in 1920, it had reached the 5,000-member mark in
1950, was up to 10,000 in 1970, and to 11,000 in 1980. At various
times the question has been asked, How can such a large
congregation keep in touch with members individually?
A series of articles on Mount Olivet, written by Steve Berg and
published in the M i n n e a p o l i s T r i b u n e in A p r i l , 1981, raised this
question, and indicated that Mount Olivet has been seeking to
solve the problem. In the installment published April 13, Berg
writes:
Mount Olivet's most challenging effort to make itself more
intimate began in 1976. The church calls it 'lay
shepherding.' It d i v i d e d the metropolitan area into 43
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S o l o m o n J o h n s o n ( E m e r o y ' s f a t h e r ) , A r t h u r B r o b e r g (farmer) and Pastor C a r l S
R e n i u s s o l i c i t i n g f o r M i n n e s o t a C o l l e g e , 1 9 2 0.
districts, then further divided those into neighborhoods,
each containing ten or twelve Mount Olivet families. It
appointed lay shepherds for each of these neighborhoods.
The idea was to provide a personal touch and to encourage
members to lean on each other in times of need.
Mount O l i v e t has six pastors. The Reverend Laurel V.
Lindberg, who is in charge of the neighborhood ministry, is
quoted as saying: "Not all people buy this kind of contact. . . .
That's fine. We don't want to snoop, but the gospel tells us to
reach out with love and we just want to let them know we care."
Neighborhood ministry, district, lay shepherding—it would
seem that Mount Olivet has found the modern urban equivalent
of a system that closely resembles the Swedish r o t e with its
deacon whose job it was to bring the church into closer touch
with the individual.
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